We had the prior judgment vacated, substituted ourselves as Plaintiff, I hired a separate lawyer to open the estate, be the PR, etc.

There is no substitute for actually getting your hands dirty on your own deal.

You can always form them on your own to save some costs if you are the sole member, but if there are multiple members, especially friends or family, there's no substitute for good legal counsel so you don't end up in an expensive situation later on.That being said, in NY, for the buy side you have recording fees, any loan fees, legal, title searches and insurance, any tax and rent adjustments, inspections.Seller's side you would have brokerage commissions, transfer tax, and recording fees for discharging any mortgages or liens.Hope that helps!

I leave the door open to report problems or concerns, but my job is not to substitute for neighborly resolution.

The 20 - 30% equity  (depending on the LTV ratio) that you are required to leave in the property acts as a substitute for the down payment.A couple of other points.  

Comparable substitution is the only way to form a solid opinion of what a property may sell for in this market. 

They’re no substitute for quality properties, quality tenants, solid management skills, and a proper insurance policy. 

If my goal is to own a few Multi-family Properties and receive the Passive Income from those properties as our $$ that we live on, basically substituting the money I make at my Hourly Job now, with passive income from rental properties, can I take out a HELOC and use it to buy a multi family property?

Get their opinion, decide how much weight to give it, but don't use it as a substitute for your own diligence. 

Substituted Service: The process server leavies the court documents with an individual residing in the defendant’s home who is at least 13 years of age.4.